United States securities and exchange commission logo




                                                                                
                            June 4, 2024

       Greg Robertson
       Chief Financial Officer
       Business First Bancshares, Inc.
       500 Laurel Street, Suite 101
       Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70801

                                                        Re: Business First 
Bancshares, Inc.
                                                            Form 10-K for 
Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2023
                                                            File No. 001-38447

       Dear Greg Robertson:

              We have limited our review of your filing to the financial 
statements and related
       disclosures and have the following comment.

              Please respond to this letter within ten business days by 
providing the requested
       information or advise us as soon as possible when you will respond. If 
you do not believe a
       comment applies to your facts and circumstances, please tell us why in 
your response.

                                                        After reviewing your 
response to this letter, we may have additional comments.

       Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2023

       Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results 
of Operations.
       Loan Portfolio, page 53

   1.                                                   In your tabular 
disclosure on page 53, we note that owner and nonowner occupied
                                                        commercial real estate 
("CRE") loans represented 44.4% of your total loan portfolio as of
                                                        December 31, 2023. 
Please revise future filings to further disaggregate the composition of
                                                        your CRE loan portfolio 
to disclose and quantify material geographic markets
                                                        in Louisiana and Texas, 
industry concentrations (such as office, retail, hotel and
                                                        multifamily), as well 
as current weighted average and/or a range of loan-to-value ratios
                                                        and occupancy rates to 
enhance an investor's understanding of these loan categories. See
                                                        Item 303 of Regulation 
S-K.
              In closing, we remind you that the company and its management are 
responsible for the
       accuracy and adequacy of their disclosures, notwithstanding any review, 
comments, action or
       absence of action by the staff.

                                                        Please contact Sarmad 
Makhdoom at 202-551-5776 or John Nolan at 202-551-3492 with
 Greg Robertson
Business First Bancshares, Inc.
June 4, 2024
Page 2

any questions.



FirstName LastNameGreg Robertson               Sincerely,
Comapany NameBusiness First Bancshares, Inc.
                                               Division of Corporation Finance
June 4, 2024 Page 2                            Office of Finance
FirstName LastName